This invention is concerned with a method of detecting the temperature of moulds of a glassware forming machine of the individual section type by detecting infra-red radiation emitted from portions of the moulds and is also concerned with a glassware forming machine of the individual section type comprising a plurality of sections each of which comprises at least one mould arrangement by which mould portions are moved, in the operation of the section, between mould-open and mould-closed positions thereof to open or close at least one mould in which molten glass is moulded, and detecting means operable to detect the temperature of mould portions by detecting infra-red radiation emitted thereby.
Glassware forming machines of the individual section type are well-known and comprise a plurality, e.g. six, of sections or individual moulding units arranged side by side to receive gobs of molten glass from a common gob distributor. Each section comprises mould arrangements which mould gobs of molten glass received from the distributor into parisons and the parisons into articles of glassware. The distributor is arranged to deliver gobs to the sections in turn and the sections therefore operate in timed relationship to one another such that, at any given time, each section is at a different stage of its operation. During the operation of a section, the moulds thereof are cooled to keep their temperature within a desired range and, to enable optimum working conditions to be achieved, it is desirable to detect the temperature of the moulds of a section so that the cooling means therefor can be adjusted to maintain the desired temperature. However, the environment in the vicinity of the moulds of a section is hostile to temperature detecting devices so that it is difficult to provide reliable temperature detecting devices in or around the moulds.
It is known to detect the temperatures of moulds of a glass moulding machine which is not of the individual section type by detecting infra-red radiation emitted from portions of the moulds (see UK Patent Specification No. 1390787). However, in a machine of the individual section type, this method has hitherto not been adopted, so far as is known, because of the expense of providing one infra-red radiation detecting device for each section. It is not practical to provide one infra-red radiation detecting device for the entire individual section type glassware forming machine and move it from section to section during the operation of the machine to detect the temperatures of the moulds of all the sections in turn because of the high speed of operation of the machine.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of detecting the temperature of moulds of a glassware forming machine of the individual section type by detecting infra-red radiation emitted from portions of the moulds in which only one infra-red detecting device is used for every two sections of the machine thereby reducing the expense of using this method of temperature detection in this type of machine.